Reviews

Find book, movie, TV shows, mobile apps, websites and play reviews for children and young adults on this site. The Children’s Book and Media Review (CBMR) helps busy adults select quality entertainment and educational materials for the children in their lives. We review books, plays, movies, TV shows, apps, and websites for children and teenagers. We understand that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to children’s media. No one understands a child’s needs better than their caretakers. Our reviews provide objective analysis and information to help you find the right materials for your child. Whether it’s educational or just entertaining, the CBMR will help you find the right worlds for your child to explore.

Pocket Points is a free app designed to incentivize staying off cell phones at school. After downloading, the student enters the name of their school, and if that school is offered as an option (there are schools listed nationwide), the app uses GPS tracking to determine if the student is on campus when the app is in use...

This app is built on the popular game of the same name in which a person is asked choose between two options what they would rather be, do, have, etc. One choice is presented with a red background on the top half of the screen and the other choice is presented with a blue background on the bottom half of the screen. An ad runs along the bottom of the screen (a popup ad also appears after a certain number of rounds). There’s no menu; the app simply opens to a random question. A player selects the answer by tapping on the choice, after which a percentage is displayed for each answer, which represents the real-time statistics of how many people have chosen each answer...

The goal of Smash Hit, one of the most popular apps in the game store, is to get as far as you can while the screen continually moves forward. You start with 25 metal balls which you can throw by tapping the screen; if you hit a crystal, you get three additional balls, but if you crash (into glass, a door, metal, or another object) you lose ten balls. The game is over when you run out of balls, and your points are generated based on the distance you traveled. The app is free to download and play, but the free version only includes basic elements of the game, such as starting from the beginning and recording your farthest distance. For the price of $1.99, you are able to restart from checkpoints...

Created by the well-known and respected Fisher-Price company, Learning Letters Puppy is a fun way for young children to learn their ABC’s, numbers, and shapes in an interactive way. Upon first opening the app, parents can read a very helpful page of “Play Tips” to optimize the use of the app for their child’s development. On the main screen are four categories to choose from. First, the ABC portion takes the child through the alphabet one at a time with progressions occurring as the child taps the screen. Each letter is accompanied by a cute and moving animation that matches the letter. Second, the counting section features numbers 1-10...

Party Catch Phrase Free is essentially the popular Catch Phrase game but in an electronic format. There are five categories of clues to choose from—Entertainment, Sports, The World, Everyday Life & Food, and Miscellaneous—and for each game, you can choose just one, all, or a variety of these categories (as well as custom clues if desired). The game is played by a group of people sitting in a circle with team members alternating. The goal is to have your team guess the clue by describing it without using the word(s) itself or anything that rhymes with it. When your team guesses it, you pass the device on to the next player (from the other team), and this process continues until the buzzer rings after one minute. During gameplay...

Lightbot: Code Hour is a relatively short app that is designed to introduce kids to coding. Users are expected to solve 20 puzzles—8 in the Basics section, 6 in Procedures, and 6 in Loops—that get progressively more difficult. Each level presents a set of square panels with a robot character placed on one of them. On the right is a “main” section in which you write the code for the robot to run using the following buttons: up (move forward one), lightbulb (light the blue tile), left (rotate left), right (rotate right), and jump (jump either up or down if there is a change of elevation). The purpose of the puzzle is to have the robot light all the blue tiles. After writing the code, you can play it back to see the result; if the objective was reached, you unlock the next...

Children's Book and Media Review

The Children’s Book and Media Review (CBMR) helps busy adults select quality entertainment and educational materials for the children in their lives. We review books, plays, movies, TV shows, apps, and websites for children and teenagers.

We understand that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to children’s media. No one understands a child’s needs better than their caretakers. Our reviews provide objective analysis and information to help you find the right materials for your child.